This dashboard offers an interactive journey through two decades of progress in vaccine coverage and child mortality reduction across the globe.
Measles, one of the most contagious and deadly childhood diseases, is entirely preventable. A single dose of the measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) provides strong protection and serves as a benchmark for immunization system performance.
In the early 2000s, the world turned a corner. Global health partnerships like Gavi, the Global Fund, and WHO’s Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) helped scale up vaccine access—especially in low-income countries. This era marked a coordinated effort to ensure that no child dies from a vaccine-preventable disease.
This dashboard helps you explore:
- The evolution of MCV1 coverage and child mortality since 2000
- Differences in progress by income level
- How MCV1 coverage and child mortality outcomes are connected
Use the tabs above to navigate key insights and interactive visuals that reveal how vaccines have reshaped child survival—and where challenges remain.
% Decrease in Child Mortality
56.7%
Between 2000 and 2023
% Increase in MCV1 Coverage
4.4%
Between 2000 and 2023
Top Gainer in MCV1
Bhutan
% Drop in Global Child Mortality
56.7%
Greatest Drop (Country)
Niger ↓ 155.2
Lowest Child Mortality (2023)
Finland 1.4
A Transformative Era:
Since 2000, countries worldwide(lower income in particular) have made dramatic progressexpanding measles vaccine (MCV1) coverage while cutting child mortality rates.
Inverse Relationship:
As MCV1 coverage rises, child mortality rates fall. This scatter plot with a year slider makes clear:
- Higher vaccination rates protect children from deadly diseases, saving millions of young lives.
- Countries with rapid MCV1 scale-up (like Sierra Leone, Burkina and Niger) are also among those with the fastest mortality decline.
Persistent Inequality:
Despite global gains, the pace of progress remains uneven: - Low-income countries still face significant gaps in both immunization and child survival.
- Some regions have not yet reached universal vaccine coverage, highlighting where additional investment and health system strengthening are needed.
The Power of Vaccination:
Every percentage point increase in MCV1 coverage translates into thousands more children reaching their fifth birthday.
Sustained commitment to vaccines, public health, and equitable access remains vital to closing the survival gap for all.
Explore the visuals: - Animated Scatter: Watch the relationship between MCV1 and child mortality evolve for each country from 2000 to 2023. - Histograms: Discover which countries achieved the biggest leaps in saving young lives and boosting vaccine access.
This dashboard utilizes a comprehensive dataset derived from Gapminder’s public data repository.
It focuses on three key indicators: - MCV1 Coverage (%): Share of children receiving the first dose of measles-containing vaccine. Critical for monitoring immunization program reach and population immunity.
Source: WHO/Gapminder/Gavi - Child Mortality (0–5 years): Deaths of children under five per 1,000 live births. A crucial measure of health system performance and child survival.
Source: Gapminder/UNICEF/World Bank - GDP per Capita (PPP, Intl $): Economic indicator used to classify countries into income groups (Low, Lower-Middle, Upper-Middle, High).
Source: Gapminder/World Bank
The data has been cleaned, merged, and transformed to long format, facilitating trend analysis from 2000–2023 across countries and income regions.View the full data prep steps
You can download the full, cleaned dataset used in this dashboard as a CSV file:
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